ISDT vet out there?

[Lew Mayer]

Great reports. Thanks.

Lew Mayer

[Jeff D]

Thanks for the daily updates from Steve.  Sounds like a brutal Day 5 for sure.  Great to read via Cycle News that Caselli and the JT team are in good position to win the Junior Trophy!  History in the making.  Seems to me some guys named Smith, Schmidt, Burleson and Bohn did something along these lines about 33 years ago!  Congratulations to all the Six Days riders who are representing the US "down under."!

Jeff DeBell

[wfopete]

ISDE Update- Day 6

Sunday, November 19, 2006

 After the grueling day five, it was finally warmer and sunny for the
final day. Basically, day five just scored the first two special tests and time checks. Some riders made it no further than that, some made it to check three, some to check four, some to five, and some of the front numbers got to six. I made it to check five and used heaps of energy in the process but my bike was still going and I had made it to the final day.
 
The start times were moved around for the final day and I left the
start at 7:27 am. We rode down the road and to the Digger McEwen MX track, went through a pre-check, had 15 minutes to do any work, and then impounded the bikes and waited for the final motos to start. A few of the American E1 riders walked the track which looked awesome. By the time we were done with that, the first moto was going to the gate which was the first of the E1 motos. We watched a little of that and then I got my gear on and waited for my moto which was #3.
 
The track got rougher by the minute and there were ruts in the turns
that weren't there when we walked earlier. The practice lap allowed us to see that the saw dust sections (2) had gotten extremely rough. I started around mid pack of the 40 rider field and made some quick passes to get up to around 12th or 14th when I saw a rider shoot up in the air, full Doug Henry at Budds Creek style just in front of me. I got on the brakes and rolled the huge downhill table top and saw the Japanese abort the mission and land in the tires that lined the track. After that I saw no need to pin it off that jump. The red cross flag was out there for the next two laps which slowed the
laps times for our moto but I was still making passes. I tried to get
around an Irish rider but his footpeg got hung in my front spokes
(breaking some of them) and we had to lay both bikes down to get them
untangled. I got going again and rode as hard as I could the rest of the moto. I think I finished the moto in 19th. My riding for the 2006 ISDE was over, except for riding back to camp. I impounded my bike again and watched the rest of the motos.
 
The final three races were the fastest of the E1, E2, and E3 riders.
Dietrich led the E1 for three laps before Juha got by and won. Caselli led E2 until the last lap when Smets got by to win. Both races were really, really good to watch. David Pearson got second in the final E3, and Dylan Debel got second in his E3 moto. The only American to win a moto was Rory Sullivan and he smoked his by a long ways. That was awesome to see.
 
By the time we were back at the Parc Ferme, the US pit was in full tear down mode. It was 3:30 and they wanted to have the container loaded by 6. Dad and I swapped parts out on my rented bike and got stuff as clean as we could and jammed back into my container. We were back at the hotel by 7 and then off to the awards ceremony by 7:45. The gave the teams their awards and the American Junior team got a loud ovation. It sounds like the club team riders will get their stuff in the mail some months from now. Hmmmm. After that we were off to "The Shed" for some real food. The place got louder by the minute (and more crowded). We left around 11 or so after watching the Italian, Spanish, and some others trade shot after shot after shot. It was so crowded they weren't letting anyone else in for a while so we talked to Bobbitt and Dietrich on the sidewalk and got the Endurocross results.
 
Dad went to breakfast this morning and had a look at the results. I
finished on silver, 85th in E1. Also, I was closer to getting a gold medal than I was a bronze, so I guess that's good. I was the second American club team rider in E1. I had a talk with Juha and asked him to slow down a little next time if I decide to do this again, so that the chances for a gold are a little better. Him winning the class (and overall) by three minutes knocked a lot of guys off gold status - kinda like the smart kid in school that aced the test when they graded on a curve.
 
Today, I've been packing stuff and trying to make sure we are ready to come home on Tuesday night. I will have a complete and detailed report after we are home for a while. I am hoping to get some pictures from Kato (Mark Kariya) and Berkner for the website and maybe some stuff from Joe Bonello and the film crew that followed us around. They got a pretty cool clip of me washing my bike in the creek on day five.  That's it for today. I finished my first ISDE and have many stories to tell. I also should be a better rut rider than when I left. If not, than there is no hope.
 
 
Thanks for keeping up with the progress - Steve